The Rise of the Darkness
by FreelyBeYourself
Summary: A series of moments in time leading up to the death of Anakin Skywalker and the birth of Darth Vader in his place. Rated T for mentions of violence.


**I own nothing.**

The first time Anakin had felt hatred, he was five years old and working in Watto's shop. The creature (at the time, he couldn't remember what species he was) refused to let him go home to his mother when the day was out, slapping Anakin across the face when the young boy dared to ask again. By the time Anakin finally got home three hours late, his mother was frantic. She was sporting a black eye, and when Anakin asked about it, she refused to tell him anything. Anakin knew, he just somehow knew, that if he had been home, he would have been able to do something to stop it. It didn't matter to him that he was only five years old; he just knew that he could have done something to prevent whoever it was from hurting his mother. And in that moment, he had his first taste of hatred; bitter, angry hatred. Because Watto was a monster. Watto had allowed his mother to be hurt. Anakin vowed that never again would Watto be given the chance to hurt the ones he loved.

The next time Anakin felt true hatred, he was nine years old. Standing on the platform waiting for the ship to depart, he overheard a conversation between Qui Gon Jinn and his apprentice Obi Wan Kenobi. Anakin did not like Obi Wan. He did not like the young man's arrogance, or his certainty that Anakin was too old to be trained. Anakin vowed that no matter what, he would prove to Obi Wan that he was capable of becoming a Jedi. He soon felt remorse for his hatred; Obi Wan had not deserved it. Still, even years later, Anakin felt, very deep down, that his initial hatred for Obi Wan had somehow tainted their relationship. Maybe that was why they argued so much. Anakin could never seem to listen to Obi Wan's instructions, because he still wanted to prove to his Master that he was capable of becoming just as much a Jedi as Obi Wan was.

The third time Anakin felt hatred, the kind that seemed to tint his vision red, it was not his own. It came as a brief flash, a disturbance in the force that made his skin crawl. This hatred was different than any he had ever felt before. This hatred was pure, vicious. He was on business with Master Obi Wan; the two were standing in the Chancellor's office waiting for the Chancellor to give them details that the Jedi Council needed. For a brief moment, Anakin could have sworn that the hatred had come from Chancellor Palpetine himself. It was a horrible hatred; a merciless hatred. Anakin felt fear, and he knew, he sensed, that whatever the root of this hatred was must be pure evil. Anakin tentatively poked the bond between himself and Obi Wan, but the questioning nudge that he received back let him know that Obi Wan had not sensed it. For a brief moment, the Chancellor and Anakin locked eyes, and Anakin thought he felt the same hatred again, this time directed towards him. _Tell no one what you have felt_, he could have sworn he heard the Chancellor tell him, but the man had not spoken. And then as soon as the moment came it passed; the Chancellor was smiling, friendly, talking to Obi Wan and giving Anakin a subtle wink here and there. Anakin watched his Master carefully, but Obi Wan still had not sensed anything, so Anakin began to relax. Soon he had forgotten all about the incident.

The fourth time Anakin felt himself filled with hatred, he was nineteen, holding his dying mother in his arms. This hatred was the most intense he had ever felt personally, and it scared him. Never before had he felt the dark side pressing in on him, but this time he did, very clearly. He hated Watto for selling his mother. He hated the Sand People for killing her, torturing her, no doubt raping her. He hated himself for allowing it to happen. So, when he felt the nudge from the dark side, he didn't think; he just grabbed at it, wrapping it around himself, filling himself with parts of the force he had never known existed. And then, mercilessly, he cut down an entire village of men, women, and children. Afterwards, he hated himself even more for giving in to that.

The fifth time Anakin experienced hatred, he was staring at Mace Windu, demanding to be made a Master on the Jedi Council. He couldn't understand how someone could be so irritating, so arrogant as Windu and still be one of the leaders of the entire Jedi Order. There was no denying that the man had the skills necessary, but he was filled with pride and a holier-than-thou attitude, and Anakin wondered why he was the only one who could see it. Anakin knew, deep down, that Windu was scared of him, and that just made him angrier, because Anakin was not a threat and maybe Windu would be able to see that if only he'd get over himself and allow Anakin to move forward instead of cutting him off at every pass. For that brief moment in the Council chamber when Anakin and Windu locked eyes, Anakin had a strange vision of pulling out his lightsaber and cutting Windu to pieces. The vision scared him back to his senses and the hatred he'd been feeling disappeared as quickly as it came. However, he couldn't forget it. He couldn't forget how powerful it made him feel. And he really couldn't quite bring himself to regret it, either.

The last time Anakin felt hatred, he was kneeling on the floor in Emperor Palpatine's office. He knew now, with horrible clarity, that he had been played, and that everything he'd done had been a horrible mistake. He knew that Windu had been right all along, and that he'd betrayed Obi Wan, and that what he was doing was wrong. He also knew that he had no choice. He had already killed Windu and allowed the lord of the Sith to escape capture. Going back now would only get him and his wife killed. In that last moment, he wasn't sure who he hated more: the Jedi, for not preparing him for this; Palpatine, for betraying him; or himself, for allowing the lies to distort his reality until he had become the very evil he had sworn to destroy. And in the end, at that last second, the hatred swelled so high, like a giant wave crashing over his head, that he was engulfed, changed; he became someone new, someone he was never supposed to be, someone comprised only of hate, and Anakin Skywalker was no more.


End file.
